


A very lucky man

by Moooomoo



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Backstory, Childhood, Gen, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-07-24 18:32:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16180790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moooomoo/pseuds/Moooomoo
Summary: In the official 流星に祈る novel (and the Tanemura manga adaptation of this story), Nagi says this sentence:"Don't worry. I have encountered kidnapping thrice, and an assassination attempt once. However, I have survived. I am very lucky man. A man with great fortune."I really loved knowing more about Nagi's background, and I tried my hand at writing it because I don't know if we'll ever get in the game story (or any official side story).Spoiler for part 3, because we actually know SO LITTLE about Nagi that I cannot not use the very little we're given in part 3. Most of this fic is my own headcanons and me assuming what I want from all the hints we got in the 3 parts of the story, the side stories & rabbit chats, but I'm using the few things we get in part 3 as well so if you're not up to date this would spoil you. Unless you're like me and it didn't came out at a surprise at all when they said it BUT WELL.Watch all of this becoming OOC and garbage as soon as the writers have mercy and give us some actual details on Nagi's background. In the meantime, please enjoy it ! There will be one chapter per kidnapping. I'm not sure to write about the assassination attempt yet.





	1. 8 years old

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language, so sorry about all the mistakes.  
> That first chapter is not the most interesting I'm afraid, but I need a base to show the evolution of young Nagi.

The first time was when Nagi was around 8 years old.

The young boy was already pretty lonely, but he still had the cheerful innocence of little kids. Most of his days were spend studying, and only on Sundays was he allowed a break. Studying with private tutors didn’t really make for great chances to meet new people, so the young Nagi was always roaming through the palace looking for the staff’s children to play with. Sadly, his attempts to initiate some playing failed most of the time. The girls were too busy giggling and hiding when they saw him, and the boys just plainly avoided him out of resentment. That was something that puzzled Nagi a lot. He never did anything to be resented, so why? He was always flashing smiles and waving cheerfully at others, so he couldn’t understand the rejection it sometimes gave him. All the adults kept telling him how cute and adorable he was, and the girls couldn’t help giggling and blushing no matter their age. But the younger boys… they shot him dark looks and just straight ignored him.

The best moments of his days was when he could spend time with his mother. Thanks god, his older brother was even busier than him, so he could often have her for him alone, and he cherished this moments more than anything else. They were special, almost secret. They would speak exclusively in Japanese, and his mother would talk about her country fondly for hours. He couldn’t stop asking her questions about it. Oh how he wanted to go there one day! It sounded wonderful. Nagi really loved Northmare, more than anything else, but Japan…. Japan sounded so exotic and interesting! It was also synonym of freedom to the young kid. And above all, her mother never smiled as much as when she was talking about her home country. Something that could make his mother so happy was surely something wonderful, right? At 8 years old, Nagi was completely obsessed by ninjas. They sounded so COOL. Sometimes he would just run alone in the big rooms, throwing piece of paper like they were shuriken. If he did it in front of his mother, she would laugh and clap at him, making the young boy beam with pride. But he never did it in front of his father or brother, for they would scold him for a behavior unfitting of a prince.

The only issue was that his mother was often very busy as well. It only made these moments even more precious to him, but it also made him quite lonely. So his second favorite time of the day was actually night time, when his dedicated maid, Anna, would bath him and prepare him for the night. As far as he could remember, it has always been the same person taking care of him. She was very sweet, always smelled nice of coffee and he just couldn’t go to sleep if he didn’t get his hug from her. He couldn’t remember when they started it, but they would always talk about their day together. Nagi would tell her something fun or nice that happened during his day. It was often related to his studies, but he always tried to look for something interesting to say. And in return she would tell him something fun or interesting about the palace life. He made the young boy feel closer to the staff, and above all it made him feel connected to someone. This maid was his first real friend. He said it once to his brother, and just got a laugh in return.

“Your friend? Are you kidding me? Servants are here to help us, that’s all. You shouldn’t try to make friend with them anyway. It’s… gross.”

That made the young boy sad. Maybe the way his older brother was treating the staff explained a bit with the other kids were avoiding him? But Nagi decided he didn’t care. He didn’t like his brother very much to begin with, so he’d keep being friend with Anna in secret.

This all went well until a winter day on Nagi’s eight year. Anna was acting strange this day, being more distant than usual and her laugh being slightly off. The young boy didn’t understand why his friend was not acting like herself, so he tried to cheer her up by telling her a funny story.

To his surprise, instead of laughing, Anna started to cry. The young boy was at lost. His story might have not been the _funniest_ one, but he saw no reason to cry either. Uneasy about what to do, he stared silently at the floor while Anna continued to dry his hair with a fluffy towel.

“Young Master… I am so sorry…”

“An--- hn!“

Pressing a tissue against his mouth and nose, Anna couldn’t stop apologizing. Nagi tried to grab her hand but he could already feel his head becoming dizzy and heavy, and his forces left him for good in a matter of seconds. Slipping into unconsciousness, the boy didn’t even have time to feel himself falling from his chair.

***

When he woke up, it took him a while to understand what was going on. He felt like someone was poking needles in his head and mouth was so dry all he could think was how thirsty he was. He couldn’t see anything but didn’t realize at first that was because of a blindfold. Trying to move as little as possible, Nagi waited for the headache to calm itself and forced himself to repress the panic he could feel raising in his chest. After a dozen minutes, he felt his head was clearer, at least. He could think again.

His hands were bound by some plastic rope in his back but his feet were free even though he could feel something metallic on his right ankle, and a cloth prevented him to speak. He felt very stiff and sore, and even though the headache and the thirst were probably caused by the chemical used to put him to sleep he wouldn’t be surprised to find out he has been unconscious for a long time.

For as long as he could remember, Nagi was taught about the possibility of a kidnapping. As a prince of the imperial family, especially in the current political context of Northmare, the probability of him or his brother to encounter one was drastically high. You could even say this was a family thing. The only problem was that his kidnapping lessons only started on his 8th birthday, so there was still so much he didn’t know.

Blinking away some tears behind his blindfold, he took a deep breath. He didn’t know much, but he knew what he had to do first anyway. With his hands behind his back, he was completely stuck and couldn’t do anything. So slowly, centimeters by centimeters, he wriggled his hands as low as possible until they were under his back. Then, forcing as much as could on the rope and ignoring the pain he felt doing so, he finally managed after some struggling to slide his hands behind his legs, and then to get them in front of him. Something was stuck in the way and prevented him to be fully operational, but he could move enough to finally get the loosely knotted blindfold out of his eyes. There weren’t any windows in the room, but a dime light was on and allowed him to see around him. The mysterious thing restricting how much he could move turned out to be a small silver chain, going from a shackle on his ankle to the wall next to him. As this prevented him to raise his hands enough to untie his gag, he moved as close as possible to the wall to be able to reach behind his head. After fidgeting with the knot for what felt like forever, he finally got it lose. With a big sigh, the young boy put his back against the wall. _Now what?_

Despite being in a bathrobe when he lost consciousness, he could see he was now wearing some pants and a t-shirt but was still barefoot. It was chilly in the room, as you would expect from being in the middle of a Northmarean winter, but it was not unbearable even though he couldn’t help shivering. The chain seemed strong and recent, and pulling at it very quickly turned out to be a waste of time. Untying his hands proved to be impossible with just his teeth, and considering the lack of noise Nagi could hear he assumed calling for help would be totally useless. So he just stayed with his back against the wall and softly blew on his damaged wrists.

The room was of a reasonable size. Not as huge as his bedroom, but still pretty large. It looked like it was a basement of some sort, and the humidity he could feel seemed to confirm that. Nagi could only see one wooden door with a big lock on his right, and some boxes on the left, but other than that the room was pretty empty. He patted his pants but the pockets were empty as he expected. He could have tried to pick the lock of the shackle, but he couldn’t find anything to use for that. All he could do now was wait. And think.

“Anna….”

What hurt the most was the betrayal of his friend. His only friend. He trusted her more than anything, and felt they really shared a bond despite the age difference – Anna was 28 year old. More than the cold, or the physical pain, it what was hurt him the most. Resting his head on his knees, he finally let himself cry a bit.

This proven to be a bad idea, as it didn’t help with the thirst and the headache, so Nagi quickly calmed himself before finally dozing off.

***

The young boy woke up with a start and almost fell on his side when the door to his cell opened, a few hours later. He silently watched as two guys he didn’t know entered the room, followed by Anna carrying what looked like a pile a clothes.

“Ah, the kid is awake as expected. Hm? What the hell! I told you to blindfold him!” screamed the first guy while turning to hit the second one.

“What the fuck? I did! And I'm tied his hands behind his back as well!”

“You stupid kid… what did you do?!”

Seeing the old man rush to his side, Nagi raised his hands to block the blow that he was sure was coming, bracing himself. But nothing came. Slowly opening his eyes again, he saw the man arguing with Anna.

“Stop it! You promised me not to hurt him! I won’t let you do anything to him, you hear me?!”

Anna was protecting him? Could it be that she was forced to do the kidnapping?!

Their looks crossed for a few seconds, but she immediately looked away.

_Ah, it was just guilt…_

“You stupid woman. Don’t try to act like you’re in charge here. OK? _I_ am calling the shots. Continue like this, and I won’t even let you see him again. You got me?”

On these words, the angry man left the room by smashing the door on his way out.

Anna hurried to his side, and gave him a thick blanket while carefully avoiding to look at his face. When she put down some water and bread next to him, he almost spoke to her.

“A--“

“Shh. Don’t say anything. Just eat.”

On these words she left, followed by the second man that didn’t open his mouth even once. He was obviously there to keep watch, but Nagi wasn’t sure if it was him or Anna that he was watching for. Probably both.

The door closed with a loud click, and Nagi was left all alone once again. Very carefully as not to spill too much, he managed to drank the water and finally felt better. The headache was still there, but he could feel an improvement. He then ate half of the bread and kept the rest for later. There was no telling when he’d get food the next time.

Rolling himself into the blanket as much as he could with his restrains, he fought back the tears he could feel coming.

_Stay quiet. Don’t speak unless asked something. Eat the food if you have any, there is no use to starve._

He was going through his training as a mantra to calm himself down. He was then supposed to look for an exit, but this seemed to be a bit too complicated in his situation.

“Mom…”

Thinking about his mother, Nagi could feel the tears coming back. “You’re so strong my sweet Nagi!” she would always say. “You are so smart!” praising him when he had good marks. Which he always had. “My sweet little Nagi-kun”, she would call him, with the Japanese honorific that always made him giggle when he was even younger. Except that, right now, Nagi didn’t feel strong or smart at all. He just felt very young, and very alone.

_If you cannot do anything, just wait patiently. We’ll come. If they want a ransom, they won’t hurt you unless you misbehave. So stay quiet. Stay calm. Don’t do anything rash, unless you see an opening to leave. But assert the situation before acting rashly._

Did they already contact his parents for the ransom? How long had he been there already? With his sleep pattern messed up, he had no idea. More importantly, how long would he be there? He shifted uncomfortably on his blanket.

***

It’s been three days, or so he thought. He wasn’t sure anymore. Time passed very slowly, and all he was doing was either sleeping or dozing on and off. Once a day – at least it felt like that – they would bring him some food and water.

He was cold and his wrists were now hurting a lot, but other than that they left him alone so he thought himself lucky. He made sure to keep quiet when someone was in the room, and they didn’t try to speak to him either. It worked fine for both sides.

***

On the fifth or sixth day, the angry old man from the first came back. He looked even angrier. He slammed the door open, and without a word went straight to Nagi who was resting again the wall.

_What is going on?_

The adult raised his hand and forcefully slapped him in the face. The surprise almost shocked Nagi more than the pain. The blow made him fall on his side, and not really knowing if more were to come he curled up and tried to protect his head with his arms. It stopped as abruptly as it started after a couple of kicks. Staying very still, the young boy resisted looking up.

“I can’t believe your father is trying to _negotiate_ the damn price!”

 _Negotiation of the ransom price. A useful technique to evaluate exactly what the kidnappers are after and if they’re likely to respect their own rules and terms during the exchange. Also a good opportunity to learn their limits._ This part didn’t made a lot of sense to the young boy when they went over it. It still didn’t now.

Still, he knew better than to answer anything. He risked a look, but the man was done hitting him apparently. Fidgeting with an electronic camera, the old man just took a picture of the young boy before leaving and slamming the door once again.

Nagi relaxed a bit, but stayed in his position on the floor. He was tired and really missing home. Hopefully, this meant the conclusion was close in one way or another. He had a hard time keeping track of the days, despite being told it was very important to do so in his lessons, but he estimated it should be about a week. If the police couldn’t find him in a week, the next step usually was to pay the ransom. The tricky part was if kidnappers didn’t ask for money, but it seemed safe to assume they did if he took what just happened into consideration.

About four days later, he saw the three same persons as the first day coming in. The angry man didn’t seem so angry this time. At least, he didn’t scream at him or moved aggressively for once.

“Come on kid. It’s time.”

“…. Time for what?” timidly asked Nagi. He couldn’t help but shiver a bit, not just from the cold. There were only two possible issues here.

“Time to go home.” To his surprise, it’s Anna who answered. Anna, who carefully avoided him during all these days. Anna, who was still now avoiding his eyes. She crouched to his level, holding some more rope.

“Nagi, I need to tie your feet. Please behave. Ok?”

Now that he finally had a chance to talk to her, the words just wouldn’t come out. His throat felt tight from the different emotions he couldn’t help but experience at this moment. Anger, relief. Sadness. More anger. And confusion. He silently nodded and let her take the shackle off and tie his feet without trying to move. He was about to get home, there was no need to struggle anymore.

“I’m sorry”, whispered Anna in his ear, before gagging him and blindfolding tightly. “I am very sorry.”

A moment later, Nagi ended up on one of the men shoulder. The following hours turned out to be pretty uneventful and boring for the young boy. He was carried and drove to a few different places, with a lot of waiting in between. He couldn’t see anything, and everyone was very careful to be outside of his earshot before speaking between each other. With a growing frustration, Nagi realized he wouldn’t be able to give any substantial information about his kidnappers or his former location. He couldn’t help but feel like he had failed his training, and this sensation was not a familiar one.

At long last, he was put down on some ground. He could feel the cold wind and some snowflakes from time to time, so it was definitely outside, or at least partially. The movement and noises around him faded away until the only sound he could hear was his own breathing.

_Am I alone…?_

It seemed it was the case. The young boy carefully tried to move a bit to at least remove his blindfold, but his arms were too stiff and painful so he quickly gave up. Shivering from the cold, he had no idea how long he waited before he heard some footsteps and voices in the distance that got him out of the drowsiness he fell into.

“Here! I found the prince! I repeat, I found the prince!”

“The prince is here! Contact his highness immediately”

“Got it!”

Everything happened at the same time. He was picked up from the floor by a guard just as another one released him from the blindfold and the gag. Blinking from the sudden light, he only realized someone wrapped a blanket around him when he stopped shivering. A few minutes later, he was in car while someone was working on cutting his bounds. His head was spinning a bit from all the activity and the number of people, but he finally felt safe surrounded by the familiar guards of the palace.

Nagi couldn’t help but let out a small cry when his wrists finally got freed. They were very sore and bleeding after all these days, but being able to move them again was a blessing despite the pain.

“Are you ok, young master?”

“Ah, yes, yes I’m… fine. Where are…. Where are my parents?”

He did feel fine. Overall, they barely hurt him during all of his captivity. He heard warnings about the potential torture or abuse that could happen during kidnappings, so he deemed himself pretty lucky in the end.

“Your parents are at the palace, waiting for your return. We’ll be on our way right now. We have a bit of a ride though, so please kindly be patient young prince. Does something to eat would be to your liking in the meantime?”

He knew that waiting in the palace was the usual procedure, as to avoid any trap that could target his parents, but the young boy still couldn’t help but feel a sting of sadness knowing his father or mother didn’t come to him first. Surrounded by guards, the young boy couldn’t help but feel even lonelier than during his captivity.

 “Let’s just go.”

“Got it, young master.”

They drove in silence to the palace. Nagi tried to recall as many things as he could for the session that was to come, but beside identifying Anna and describing two of the men, he didn’t have much to give. In the end, he didn’t even know why he was kidnapped. Was it strictly for the money? He remembered Anna saying her mother was sick a few months ago. Could it have been for that reason?

“I could have helped you if only you asked me….” muttered the young boy.

***

Back at the palace, Nagi was immediately brought to his parents. He could read the relief on their faces, and even his brother had something nice to say to him for once upon his return. That is, until he started talking Nagi down for befriending a maid in the first place. That sent the young boy back into a sour mood. The betrayal of his friend still hurt a lot, and he felt like it he would never be able to trust someone else ever again.

For the next weeks, the search for Anna and the two man Nagi helped draw a portrait of continued relentlessly, but either they were very good at hiding or they left the country immediately after getting the money. Anna’s mother was gone from the hospital as well, confirming Nagi’s doubts about the true motive of the kidnapping.

To his surprise, at the debriefing of the kidnapping, his instructor and his father both praised him. He was expecting to be scowled, failing to learn or do anything useful, but considering the extent of his lessons, his age and his situation, they confirmed him he couldn’t have done more. That made him somewhat happy, but Nagi swore to himself that if this ever happened again, he wouldn’t be so helpless.

“You know Master Nagi, you really were very lucky this time. Considering how organized they were, this could have gone much worse. You got out of it with only a cold and some bruises. You are a very lucky person.”


	2. 12 years old - part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm splitting this chapter in two parts because the introduction part became longer than I expected.  
> Here come the 2nd kidnapping, Nagi is 12 years old and it's roughly a year before he meet Sakura Haruki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really tried very hard to take Nagi's rabbit chats / side stories / game story hints into consideration and do something with them, but honestly it's a bit hard to see how they work between each others (on purpose I guess) and I feel like I'm going in blind there. Nagi's personality has such different sides coexisting that it's hard to make them all work together as well, especially with the lack of clear information xD. I love the guy so much I feel like apologizing for failing him, haha.
> 
> 3.12-1 young Nagi really bothered me a lot. This chapter is supposed to be happening more or less a year before that part, I tried to take into consideration his personality in this part to write my chapter but it's hard to be sure what to make of it to be honest. He seems very emotionless in that chapter, so I went for that.

The second time was when Nagi was around 12 years old.

The political tensions in Northmare were steadily increasing for the past two years, and with them the burden of the little prince grew heavier. His brother, the crowned prince, started to meddle more into the political scene as he grew older and he brought with him some pretty harsh ideas. For the past two decades Northmare had been a constitutional monarchy, with the royal family being deeply involved in the government but not all powerful anymore. His brother was expected to become the next king, and it seemed he would have liked to get the full power back to him. This caused an increasing number of fights between his elder brother and his father.

Nagi only heard it through textbooks and articles, but apparently the decision to switch to a new system was surprisingly well welcomed at that time. It allowed the country to open more on an international level, and its economy greatly beneficiated from that. A lot of rumors, even now, said that the king marrying a Japanese woman might have motivated the switch. What the rumors didn’t specify, was if the king was influenced by the Japanese woman after their marriage, or on the opposite if he did it because he wanted to marry her.

The truth was that the king marrying a foreign woman was met by very different reactions around the country. Some citizens were captivated by the wonderful and exotic beauty of the woman, but some others frowned upon the royal bloodline not being “pure” anymore. As a result, the queen always was somewhat isolated since the day she came to live in the palace. Being extremely busy and loving her husband, this never was really a problem for her. However, to the young Nagi is was a never-ending cause of sadness. He loved his mother deeply, and as he grew older he began to realize how people always seemed to keep a distance with her. And, lately, even his brother was acting distant with their mother. In his mind, this wouldn’t do at all. His mother deserved attention. She deserved all the attention in the world. This is probably when he realized this that Nagi started flirting out with women.

At first, he did it with the innocence of a kid. With his charm and beauty, he knew he only had to smile or wink to a woman to make her blush and smile in return. He kept doing it because the young boy was craving for human affection, and if the men were cold or fake with him, he knew the women were sincere. However, as he grew older he grew bolder in his behavior. He never wished for anyone to experience what his mother was living through, and thus he decided that it was his duty to make every women feel special and wanted. After all, women were never more beautiful than when they were smiling. And that’s something he was especially good at.

Busier and busier every year, Nagi’s time was strictly split out between his lessons and political meetings, diners and receptions. At twelve no one expected him to actually do anything special, but he needed to learn how to behave in public, and more importantly it was vital he could remember the faces and situations of every person playing their hand on the political scene of the country. The annual celebration of his birthday became less of a party and more an annual complex gathering were the king was expected to help resolve touchy subjects. There wasn’t much time for fun anymore, but the young kid having giving up on making friends didn’t mind it that much. He poured everything he had in his studies, getting top grades in literally every departments. Nagi didn’t do it anymore to get praises: this stopped a while ago already. Everyone was focused on his brother, the next King to be. No, he did it because it was the only thing that distracted him from his loneliness.

His favorite moments were still the ones were he could spend time with his mother. They got rarer as he grew older, but no matter what they were the most precious to him. To make up for the decreasing time he could spend with her, he started watching Japanese movies and animes a couple of years ago. These were so great! Watching the school slice-of-life animes, Nagi found himself longing for the friendship atmosphere that was the base of all the stories. But the best were all the magical girl animes! The heroines were SO STRONG! They could fight and resolve all their problems on their own! That’s was wonderful. Nagi wanted to be as strong as them. He couldn’t transform himself into a super heroine (he did try with her mother’s jewelry when he was 10, but nothing happened) but he could learn to fight as well! And never be helpless again. He only had self-defense classes, but he took it upon himself to start learning attack techniques as well. The “Pretty Cure” animes were proving to be very good learning material for that. He got the DVDs as a present from his mother on one birthday, and kept watching them on a loop in his rare moments of free times. This often meant he would go to bed late and just fall asleep with the TV on.

Since his kidnapping almost four years ago, the staff taking care of him was changing every couple of months but for a few, like George, his butler, and there never were less than two people at the same time with him in his room. The young boy wasn’t befriending anyone anymore though, so this also meant no more friendly talk in the evening. Instead, Nagi filled that gap with books, music, movies and animes instead. While watching animes, he could forget about his studies, his brother, the politics or all these manipulating adults he grew to hate around him. He actually felt like a kid again, and it warmed the numbness of his heart.

What didn’t help his loneliness was his strained relationship with his big brother. It just kept degrading over the years. The annoyance his could see in his eyes gave way to jealousy at some point. There was hardly a subject they could agree on anymore, and as any discussion would end up in a fight they both gradually started to avoid talking to each other if absolutely they didn’t have to.

There were only three moments when Nagi would smile from the bottom of his heart anymore: with his mother, when talking to women, and when watching animes. However, on days like the upcoming one, he was expected to be smiling to everyone. It was, after all, his twelfth birthday.

The attendance was supposed to be around twenty thousands of people, as usual. The palace was a busy place all year long, but for the birthdays of the King, the Queen and the Princes it always was the busiest. People came from all the islands of Northmare and even from abroad for the huge parties and a chance to see the royal family in public. Whenever they reached ten years old, the princes were then expected to give a speech every year in front of the audience just like the king and the queen. This was going to be Nagi’s third time, but he wasn’t as anxious as the first. Speaking in public, no matter how big the audience, was something he felt very comfortable with. His brother was actually very skilled as well, but he never could win the people over as easily as Nagi and it made him very envious.

 The palace was partially open to the public on these days, even if the security was strong and the actual party was reserved to a smaller number of people – around one thousand, and only political partners and family. Nagi used to love being the center of the attention for that one day a year, but he quickly realized growing up that things were different than what they looked like. It was a delicate dance of power, and no one ever really talked to you without expecting something else in return. Thanks god, the young boy was a good dancer. Despite his young age, he was already pretty good at seeing through the fake smiles and masks. Or, at least, so he thought. He would soon come back on that.

For the time being, Nagi was skillfully navigating through the sea of fake smiles and congratulations, leaving the manipulators behind with empty words and an innocent smile before focusing his attention on the lovely women present here tonight. The speech he gave earlier in the day went very well, the crow erupting in cheers and applauses once he was finished. Rare thing, his father even praised him for that, making the young prince blush deeply. His mother had crouched to his level before hugging him tightly.

“My dear Nagi… the people really love you. That’s wonderful.”

That sentence gave him mixed emotions. He was happy to be loved by other people, sure, and he loved Northmareans as well, but with a sharp pain it reminded him all too well that his mother wasn’t loved with the same sincerity.

Raising his head above his mother’s shoulder, Nagi’s look crossed his brother eyes. For a few second, the hatred he saw there sent a shiver down his spin. Then he blinked, and it was gone. Did he just imagine it? His brother was now smiling like his parents, politely clapping, his brown eyes pretty normal. Maybe he just imagined it, after all.

Some very boring meetings followed after that, and finally it was time for the party. Nagi both loved and hated the parties at the same time. It was the worse time when it came to dealing with fake adults, but it also was the best moment to enjoy the company of the women, and finally feeling like he was special in the eyes of someone.

Completely focused in his conversations, it took him a while to realize he was being followed through the crowd by one person. Every time he swiftly moved away and joined a new group, the stare he could feel on his back joined him as well. After a while, the young prince got tired of this masquerade and looked around him until he could find the person responsible. _There!_ A man was staring at his with a lot of intensity. He purposely made eye contact and shot him a dark look. Nagi was satisfied as he saw him turn around and stopped feeling his gaze. He had no idea who this man was despite his face being vaguely familiar, which puzzled him a bit as he was expected to have at the very least a rough understanding of every guests at this party. Shaking off this weird feeling, Nagi went back to enjoying himself, or at least tried. However, the magic was now broken: the young boy couldn’t help but scan the room for that man now. Not being able to spot it again, he went to George that stayed close by all evening long in case he needed something.

“George, did you see tonight a man in a dark blue suit, around… 190 centimeters high, I think. Short and dark brown hair? With horn-rimmed glasses?”

“Hm… I’m afraid I have not, young master. I wasn’t paying that much attention to the people themselves. Do you want me to call a guard?”

Nagi thought a bit about it, but he didn’t feel any ill intent from that man. Calling the guards because someone looked at him with a bit too much insistence was probably over doing it. He might just be someone who wanted to speak with him but didn’t have the chance yet. Nagi has not given them too many chances tonight. It was his birthday after all, so he wanted to enjoy it as much as possible.

“No, it’s fine. No need for that. But if you spot him in the crowd, please tell me immediately.”

“Understood, young master.”

Having done what he could about the issue, Nagi shook the feeling off and went back to his guests. An hour later, just when he finally had forgotten all about that man, he saw him again on the other side of the room, near a windows. Decided to settle things to put his mind at ease, he politely bid goodbye to his current discussion partners and made his way across the crowd. Half way there, a hand gripped his wrist and stopped him in his tracks.

“Nagi! Come here!”

Startled for a second, Nagi relaxed when he saw it was his elder brother. They mutually ignored each other lately, but Nagi was willing to do efforts if they did have to speak.

“What do you want?”

That came out a bit cold. Nagi quickly added a smile to make it nicer. The smile his brother gave him back was a bit stiff, but it didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

“Come over here. There are people that want to speak with you. Father isn’t really pleased, apparently a lot of persons complained about not seeing you tonight.”

 Nagi blushed at that comment. It sadly was true. The praise of the afternoon would not last very long.

“Father wants you to join him in the Green Tea Room. He has some people to introduce you to.”

“Understood. I’ll go right away then… Thanks for the message.”

 His brother nodded before disappearing back into the crowd. Frustrated, Nagi request George to go ask in his place to the horn-rimmed glasses guy what he wanted from him, before leaving to meet his father. The Green Tea Room was very close-by, and it wasn’t rare for his father to use some other rooms when he wanted some more privacy or calm from the chatter and the music. Imagining his father wasn’t really happy to begin with, Nagi headed there as quickly as possible. There was no way to know how long his brother waited to give him the message as well.

Taking only a few seconds to be sure his hair wasn’t messy and his jacket was straight on his shoulders, Nagi firmly pushed the doors to the Green Tea Room, wearing an apologetic smile on his face. To his surprise, the room was quiet and almost empty. Only two old men turned their head to look at him when he entered.

_Father isn’t there…? Did he leave already? Did I miss him?_

“Ah, I’m very sorry to intrude. I was looking for my father – the King. I was told he was there.”

One of the two men raised his glass of wine as to confirm that.

“You indeed just missed him, I believe. He left a couple minutes ago, at most.”

 _Damn_. Was he destined to miss everyone he was looking for tonight? Just as Nagi was about to turn back and exit the room, he noticed something strange. There were no guards at all in the room. That was really weird, as there were supposed to be two guards in every room of the palace open to the public, empty or not. He passed some on his way there, but now that he thought about it there were no guard in front of the room’s door either.

Suddenly, his mouth felt very dry.

“Gentlemen, if you excuse me… I will go after my father now.”

The doors closed softly behind him, as the second man added:

“Oh! That would be too bad, we were actually waiting for you all evening, young prince!”

All his senses were screaming at him to move, but he didn’t have the time to act on that before a blow to the head came from behind and sent him to the floor.

“That was a close one… I was so sure he saw me earlier. But then he started focusing on some random guy instead, thanks god !”

Nagi heard the third voice talking, but couldn’t make out what it said before everything became black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose to make George appears already, because I assumed he could have been working for a long time for Nagi (the guy isn't even in the story but they talk about him all the time in the rabbit chats so...)  
> Also I decided to use that rabbit chat sentence "The fact that I often felt needed and special, I suppose. That is not something I normally experience." to give me a direction in how Nagi was treated by his family.  
> And at last, I still have no ideas if Nagi is kidding or not when he says he learned offence combat through animes, but I decided it could really have been the start anyway so I used that.
> 
> I went through all the translated rabbit chats of Nagi (he's the one with the least translated ones tho, sob) to look for hints, and there are a looot but you need to decide how to interpret them and it's not easy. I hope Nagi doesn't feel too off when reading !  
> Thanks for your time <3


	3. 12 years old - part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: English isn't my first language. I have no beta reader or proof reader, so I apology for all the mistakes and typos I'm sure are in it despite all my re-readings. If you notice big mistakes please reach to me so I can edit them xD thanks !
> 
> Based on what we know of Northmare from rabbit chats & story, I went for names and weather situation that fit the potential location.
> 
> This chapter was hard to write, I wasn't sure of the direction to take and I kept worrying about a lot of stuff. But finally it's done xD.

Nagi woke up with a start, his head throbbing with pain.

_What happened—?!_

“Ow!”

The young boy was sitting against a wall, and hit his head when he tried to look around. A moan escaped his lips when the pain intensified. The blow he received earlier was still pretty painful, and this just made it worse. Calming himself, he carefully gathered his thoughts. He went to meet his father and then…

_Ah, right… These two old men were… no, three. There were three of them. Another kidnapping, uh? But during a party, and so close to the main event? How did they even manage that?!_

More than frustration or fear, is was confusion that filled the young man. He never heard of such a bold kidnapping before. They were literally a hundred meters away from the strongest security in the palace! There was absolutely no way they could have managed that without help from the inside. But even then… Shaking his head, Nagi forced himself to stop. There would be time to think about that later. He had to assert his situation first.

His back against a wall, he was in a sitting position, his hands bounds behind his back by some handcuffs. There was another pair on his feet, but he didn’t see or feel any other restrains. No blindfold or gag as well this time, which allowed his to scan his surroundings. This time more carefully, as not to hit his head again. He was in a small room, probably no bigger than 10 meters square. There was no windows and no furniture of any sort but for a pot in a corner; however the room was clean and warm. The floor was some decent wood-work, so this was probably either supposed to be a walk-in closet or a small bedroom. Either way, it seemed to be surprisingly sound-proof as Nagi couldn’t hear a single sound beside the ones he was making.

_Ok, so, handcuffs… that’s good. I can work with that! And I still have my shoes. This is almost too good to be true._

Without losing more time, the young boy proceeded to get his hands in front of him, just like the last time. This was much easier with handcuffs than any other restrains, as he had more room to move and get his legs inside the small space delimited by his arms. In a matter of minutes, his hands were not stuck in his back anymore and he delicately retrieved a pin from his shoes. He was supposed to always have some on his clothes at any time, but the easiest to reach were the ones in the shoes. A dozen minutes later at most, both handcuffs sets were lying open on the floor and Nagi was rubbing his wrists. Then, carefully, he slightly felt his head for any damages. Touching the huge bump he had on his side made him wince, but otherwise there was barely any dried blood at all. That was a good sign.

Slowly standing to his feet – he head was still a bit dizzy after all – he went to the only door of the room and put his ear against the cool wood. Not a sound. Focusing as much as possible, Nagi tried to catch any kind of noise. Something moving, steps, some voices… but the only thing he could hear was his slow breathing.

_Now I must… pick the lock of the door…_

Even knowing what his training said, Nagi couldn’t help but be a bit scared about the next step. _Try to get out of the room if possible_. He was told numerous times that reaching for help or exiting the building was the top priority in case he could get out of room was held in. However, the young man’s frustration at how his kidnappers managed to abduct him kept growing. If by chance he could find out some details about their identity, or even better, about the help they had inside the palace… That would be really helpful. But…

His hands were shaking. He might have a good training, but he still would have to face people much taller and stronger than him. There also was no way to say if things could go as well as they did with his trainer, and he didn’t have a weapon either. Taking deep breaths, the young boy took a few minutes to calm himself and get his composure back.

“I am Nagi Valhart Von Northmare. I can do this.”

With steady hands, he started picking the lock of the door. His heart was beating really fast, but other than that his head was clear and focused. Ignoring the throbbing pain of his head and the mess of his thoughts, Nagi just focused on the door until it clicked open.

_Yes!!_

But the hard part was starting now. He had no idea where he was, or what the layout of the building was like. He debated keeping his shoes on, but finally decided to take them off as to be quieter while moving. He made a knot with the shoelaces and hung them around his neck. Opening the door millimeters by millimeters, Nagi took a quick look in the hallway. No one in sight, still no sounds either. The path seemed clear. Taking a deep breath, the young boy stepped outside. There were so many doors… The ceiling lights were on because of a lack of windows and thus natural light, meaning it was either situated below ground level or on the very top floor. At that time of the year the sun wasn’t setting anymore, meaning permanent daylight. With no natural light, you didn’t have much possibilities. The young prince didn’t have any idea what time of the day it was either. His watch was gone along with everything else he had in his pockets or any jewelry he was wearing at the beginning of the party. The kidnappers had been quite thorough, anything with a hidden emitter to give away his position was gone as well. Lucky for him, they didn’t think about taking his shoes. Without a lock pick, he would have been pretty limited in his actions.

Going as fast as it was silently possible, Nagi reached the end of the hallway. Still no windows in sight, but there was a small staircase going down. It seemed like he was on the top floor of an old mansion, the one usually reserved for the staff bedrooms. He made his way down the stairs, his heart missing a beat at every crack of the wood, before promptly hiding beside the first furniture he saw once he was off them. It turned out to be an armchair. Nagi found himself in a new corridor lined with doors on either side, more luxurious this time. It even had a thick carpet, way past its glory days but still expensive looking. On the other side he could see a much bigger staircase, this time made of stone. The silence was unnerving. He knew the house just couldn’t be empty, but the lack of sound all together felt really abnormal. Was it late at night after all? Logically it should be either the beginning or middle of the day, unless he stayed unconscious much longer than he imagined.

The carpet muffling the sound of his steps, Nagi moved faster this time. He almost had reached the new stairs when a shout made him freeze completely.

“YOU IDIOT!!”

He knew he had to move, either continue or hide behind something, but his feet just felt frozen in place. He didn’t even dare to look behind him. Did someone saw him? Where did that voice come from? Some half audible sounds coming from the door just behind him answered to his question, before being followed by more screaming.

“WHAT? ARE YOU STUPID SVEND, OR ARE YOU TRYING TO ANGER ME ON PURPOSE!?”

“N-no Sören–  I mean, Chief! I would never dare!”

This time the second voice answered more loudly and Nagi could make out what he said, but the rest of the conversation soon fell back to barely whispers to his ears. After taking a few seconds to calm himself down, Nagi was faced with two choices. Either he continued for the stairs – the most logical choice. Or he could try to listen to that door, and see if he could get more information.

_Your priority is getting out or reaching for help so we know your location. Don’t do anything reckless unless you’re sure the chances of success are very high._

He knew what he had to do, which matched what deep down he _wanted_ to do, so of course he picked the most logical choice and did the opposite. Going back a few steps, he crouched down and put his ear against the door he heard the voices coming from. For a moment he couldn’t hear anything, but after concentrating a bit he started making out the conversation on-going in that room.

“—yet?”

“No, we got a confirmation from our source that the King got our message though. But no answer for now.”

“Nothing yet? It’s been 20 hours already, that’s crazy. I thought the King would react quicker.”

20 hours? He was out for almost a day? How was this even possible? Nagi couldn’t help but ask himself. That seemed like an awful long time.

“Our source warned us beforehand that it might take a while, so nothing out of the ordinary for now.”

“Hm. And what about the other prince? Is he still out?”

“Yeah, we checked upon him about… an hour and a half ago, and he was still completely out. Do you, um, want to contact our doctor so he can have a look? Just in case?”

“Nah it’s ok. I didn’t hit _that_ hard, it’s probably from the injection we gave him after. It’s fine, he’ll come out soon enough. Just don’t forget to give him some food, I don’t want him to starve. He only has worth to us alive. Well, for the moment at least.”

That sent a shiver down his spine. However, what bothered him the most was this “source” they kept talking about. It confirmed his suspicion, but if only they could give him more information about its identity… That would be worth every risk.

“Got it Sö--, uh, Chief.”

Following a slapping noise, the door suddenly vibrated as a body slammed into it on the other side. Startled, Nagi fell back on his butt. He recovered quickly and went back into position after debating about it for a few seconds. Keeping on listening was becoming riskier.

“—you not to call me by my name!! It’s been 3 times already are you doing this on purpose?!”

“Yes Chief, no Chief, s-sorry Chief!! It won’t happen again!”

After a short blank – Nagi could picture him sigh – the angry man continued.

“Anyway. We’ll keep following the plan. So far it’s going fine. Our request should send them in the wrong direction for the time being. If they grant it, we’ll know for sure how much we can push for the second part. If they don’t, then we’ll switch to plan B. Svend. Go check on the prince now.”

Shit. That was his cue. He pushed his luck way too much already. Without waiting a single second more, Nagi ran for the stairs before the door would open on him. The stone that made up the steps was old and polished by what were probably decades of use, and Nagi almost slipped a few times because of his socks while trying to get down as quick as possible. Thanks god, his feet barely made any sound on the cold rock.

Reaching down yet another corridor, Nagi chose to hide there instead of continuing to go down the steps to what he expected what finally the last floor. If they looked over the staircase while he was on, they would definitely see him. Hunched over behind a big bookcase, the young boy covered his mouth with his hands as to be sure not to make any audible noise. His breathing was quick from the stress and the adrenaline, so he didn’t trust himself anymore.

“What the…?” the voice was coming right from his right.

“What’s wrong Svend?”

“No, it’s just that I’m sure I heard a noise when I came out. But I don’t see anyone.”

“Sure you don’t. Almost everyone is out at the moment. They’re supposed in the back yard, unloading the truck we just got in.”

“Ah, right. Still, I’m sure I heard something….”

The voice felt closer. Svend probably started to get down the stairs just like Nagi did, but the other voice – it wasn’t the chief’s, so probably a third person – snapped at him.

“What are you doing? Go check on the prince! You don’t want to anger the chief again, am I right?”

“….No, you’re right. Whatever.”

Feeling overwhelmed with relief, Nagi heard the loud steps going back up. The relief didn’t last long, knowing that it was a matter of minutes before the kidnappers realized he was gone. The sounds were fading away now and he couldn’t hear anything anymore – gosh this house was really soundproof – and he debated between hiding in another room or just trying to run for a door. That was really risky, but he ruined all his chances at a stealth exit by now. Cursing himself, he ran once again for the stairs, but this time not even caring about the noise he could make anymore. He quickly arrived in the kind of typical hallway you could expect on the ground floor of a big mansion. The main entrance was right in front of him, with a guard in front of the door.

_Shit!! I guess not_ everyone _is out at the moment._

The guard immediately turned around and drew his gun when he heard the young boy, but this one didn’t give him time to react more than that or to raise his voice. Picking up his shoes by the shoelaces, he swung them around a couple of time before throwing them at the guard.

“What the— ?! DON’T MOVE!! I’LL SHO—OW!”

No one in the palace could match Nagi’s aim at throwing things, whether it was darts, rocks, using a slingshot or… more random stuff. The shoes hit the guard right in the face and made him stagger toward the door where he finished to knock himself out completely. Nagi arrived just seconds later and tried to pull the big door open without taking the time to catch his breath. To his horror, he realized the door was locked.

_Shit, shit! The windows…?_

They were all barred.

_The key… the guard must have a key!_

Dropping to the floor to search the guard, Nagi barely paid attention to its surroundings anymore. He was starting to panic despite himself. _Panic is your worst enemy. Always stay focused and in control of your emotions._

“Well well. What do you think you are doing, my Prince?”

Raising his head toward the voice, Nagi found himself facing the barrel of a gun held by Sören, the one Svend called “Chief”. He didn’t heard him come at all. His surroundings suddenly came to life all at once. He could hear people shooting, people running, some doors slamming. He completely dropped his guard and let himself panic, which made him oblivious to everything around him for a short, but long enough moment to screw everything up. Dropping his hands, but very careful not to show the key he was now holding in his fist, Nagi kept his mouth shut and just stared at the old man. He didn’t see him during the party, but according to the conversation he eavesdropped earlier he was the “third man” that hit him from behind. His face felt strangely familiar, like the one of a very distant relative you wouldn’t have seen in years. Maybe he saw him when he was younger, hence the vague memories? But it definitely not someone who has been visiting the palace recently. Well, at least not until his last birthday.

“Get up. We need you to go back to your room now. Without fuss.”

Leaning on his left knee, the young boy made it looks like he would get up but instead dived between the chief’s legs, knocking the gun from his hands with his feet in the movement. The old man turned to face him right away with a curse. He seemed really very upset, and not less menacing even if now weaponless.

_If you’re fighting an adult, take advantage of your small size. They will have a hard time sizing you. You must slip through their fingers, never stop moving._

Launching immediately into an attack, Nagi didn’t leave him space to act first or find another weapon. He was too small to actually be able to knock him out, but he could incapacitate him. Kicking his shin as hard as possible, he made the old man bend over and finished him by elbowing his balls as strong as possible. The chief dropped to his knees with a sharp and loud scream. Not wasting a second, Nagi ran to the door and tried to open it with shaking hands. Thanks god, he didn’t drop the key, and it seems it was indeed the right one.

Just as he pushed the handle, he felt hands grabbing him from behind, lifting him from the floor.

“NO!!!! Let me go!!!”

Trashing, he tried to kick whoever was holding him – Svend apparently – but another pair of arms grabbed his legs and prevented him from doing any more damage. Unable to do wriggle his way out, Nagi let out a scream of frustration, before finally becoming still and stopping his useless attempts to free himself.

“You’re done with your tantrum, kiddo?”

It was the chief, back on its feet – even if still walking a bit hunched – and now extremely mad. Coming closer, he grabbed his collar and spoke in the coldest and most menacing voice the young boy heard so far.

“If you even do that again – _any_ of that, I am certain I can find a use to you dead. Got it?”

Before Nagi could even think of a reply, he got slapped in the face so hard his vision went black for a few seconds. His head injury was still hurting, and this slap made him loose his bearing completely. He felt a sob rising up his throat but fought not to let it out. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

It seemed everyone was coming back to the house following the commotion, and people kept passing by. Another person, younger this time, hurried to his side and started restraining him again, before putting some dark cloth on his head.  

“Get him back upstairs! NOW! Do it before he actually see everyone we have here, for fuck’s sake!! You want to give him a tour of the house while you’re at it?!”

It wasn’t long before he was back to the room he started from – or at least he assumed it was the same. They dropped him on the floor without taking the cloth out of his head. The young boy still felt queasy and his head started throbbing again. Without making an attempt to move, he just laid there feeling the shame consuming him. He really failed his training completely this time. What would his father and his teacher even say? He took risks, probably blew his chance to hide or find a back-door exit, and ended up screaming and kicking like a stupid kid. He knew better than to take risks, talking back or angering his kidnappers. That was like the first thing he learned. And he did exactly that.

For a moment, Nagi forgot that he only turned 12 years old the day before, and that he technically was still a kid. There was no telling how things could have turned if he had made different choices. He did acquire some interesting information about the kidnappers, starting with the name of their leader. He didn’t doubt that Sören was his real name. If he made it out in one piece, this would surely prove to be useful for the police force. The identity of their mysterious “source”, on the other hand… That was still bothering him. That person seemed to know a lot about what was going on at the palace, so it couldn’t be a mere guard or someone unimportant. Who the hell was it?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and closing right after. Nagi instinctively turned his head toward the noise, even though he couldn’t see anything. Some hands picked him up and he soon found himself in a setting position, propped against the wall once more, before the cloth was finally pulled off his head. Blinking, the young boy tried to see through his now messy hair. When his vision became clearer, he found himself facing another gun.

“Ok kiddo. So here we go. I have food for you. But I also have the order to shoot you if you even think about doing something else than eating. Am I clear?”

Nagi was past acting reckless now. He slowly nodded.

“I’ll take the opportunity to add that I can shoot you without killing you, and that it’ll probably hurt like hell. So behave.”

After that last warning, that Nagi decided not to comment on, Svend put down a sandwich and a water bottle on the floor, before having the same young guy from earlier taking out the handcuffs from his hands. The prince quietly ate his meal while staring at the gun, that didn’t leave his sight even for a second. He almost spoke to his guard for a second, before deciding that he probably made enough stupid decisions for the day. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that this Svend guy was the kind he could convince. Convince him of what, he wasn’t sure, but he looked like he could be at least easily swayed, somehow.

Once he was done eating, the other guard made him lie on the floor and restrained him again. This time, he made sure to link his left wrist with his right ankle and vice-versa instead of just handcuffing him normally. This was pretty uncomfortable, but Nagi knew he kind of had it coming after how he acted. Expecting a punishment much worse, he stayed silent until the two guards left and he was left alone. Well, almost alone as this time he could hear that someone was right behind the door, even if the sounds were pretty muffled.

Sighing, the Nagi braced himself for what would probably be a long period of waiting. He still had a lock pick in one of his pants pocket, which the kidnappers didn’t search at all, but in his current condition there was nothing he could do.

***

The first week went by pretty quickly. The meals he got once a day were pretty regular, so it made it easier for him to keep track of the time. Every day Svend and the other guy would come in together and un-cuff him just long enough so he could use the pot in the corner of the room and then eat a meal and drink some water. The young prince would have killed for a shower and some painkillers, but didn’t dare to ask for anything. His head was still hurting and his arms and legs were stiff and sore from being kept in the same position but for a small half hour or so a day. His days were mostly spent sleeping – it’s impressive how much you could sleep when you had nothing else to do – or going through every little details he got since he was here. Moreover, there was still something that bugged him from the exchange between Sören and Svend that he overheard on the first day, but he still couldn’t put his finger on it… replaying this conversation in his head was his main occupation when he was awake.

A second week passed, and Nagi’s worries started to increase while his energy decreased. As he feared, the request of the kidnappers might not be money this time. This meant it was now a power struggle between the King and them. The first one to yield would have the upper hand in the follow-up of the negotiations. Depending on the importance of the request, the hostage could quickly become collateral damage and Nagi really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. For the hundredth time, he cursed himself for ending up in this situation. He had been careless from the start and felt like he just kept pilling on the errors.

Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn’t notice the extra noise outside of his cell. The sound was muffled, but the two guys were speaking loud enough so he could hear it.

“Svend! Svend! We did it!!”

“Don’t scream in the hallways like that, you idiot!”

“We won!! They released him!!!”

“What? Seriously?! They did?? I thought they would never…!! That’s awesome!!”

“I know right!! Now we finally can change things and control the King!!”

“Shhh, you idiot! Don’t scream stuff like that! Tone it down a notch, will ya?”

The rest of the exchange was too low for him to follow, but he finally understood who the kidnappers were and what they were after. More than simple kidnappers, they were surely a full terrorist organization. It would match everything he saw or heard when he tried to escape. And they most very likely Royalists… the faction of Northmare pushing for a return to a full monarchy. They intended to pressure the King into moving toward that, if he could trust the exchange he just witnessed. How exactly he had no idea, but with one of the King’s son as leverage it was indeed a delicate situation. The release they mentioned was probably another terrorist that was kept in jail until now. If his father gave up on that, it probably meant they were not making much progress on finding where Nagi was held. If only he could give them a tip about his location… But stuck in this room, there wasn’t much he could do.  Not that he knew much about said location. He was in an old house, probably belonging to a minor noble family, or at least one that used to be rich but wasn’t anymore considering the lack of furniture and sign of life he spotted.

Nagi suspected the house belonged to the chief, Sören, has the only reason his face could be familiar to him would be if he had been wealthy enough at some point so come to the palace on a daily basis.  However, this was not really supported by solid evidence but more by a gut feeling. Despite that, the young boy was sure that a research based on his name would surely bring some interesting results.

Letting his thoughts drift away, Nagi quickly felt back asleep. He wasn’t literally starving, but the food was barely enough to quench his hunger but for a couple of hours. Associated with a total lack of stimulation, he felt his energy dwindling a bit more every passing day.

***

His chance came unexpected two days later. He was handed a bucket and a towel by Svend after his meal of the day.

“Freshen up. Once you’re done, get up. We have to go somewhere.”

Nagi wasn’t sure was awaited him, but he guessed that cleaning up your hostage was definitely not the usual procedure before killing it off and thus that he should be safe for the time being. Just grateful at the opportunity, he quickly proceeded to clean himself as much as he could with stiff movements. His muscles were screaming in pain at every gesture he made, but he ignored them as much as possible.

“Your hands, behind you.”

He felt the familiar metal clasping his wrists together, and then looked up to Svend and estimated he could maybe try a question.

“Where… are we going?”

“To film a video, _your majesty_. Your father apparently need a reminder of what he’s risking in the matter.”

He didn’t miss the irony in the voice of the old man.

 “But that enough questions for now. We just want your pretty face, not your pretty voice.”

Taking some tape out of his pocket, he quickly sealed the boy’s mouth before putting a cloth on his head and nudging him to move forward. They didn’t go very far, just to another room on the same floor, but Nagi still staggered a couple of times and not because of his limited vision. There was no running away like this, he wouldn’t even make it to the second floor before they could catch him back. He was way too stiff to walk normally, let alone run or fight. However, there was something else he could do, maybe.

They made him sit on a chair and removed the cloth. The boy shook his head to make out something through the mess of his hair and started to blink heavily. He was facing a small camera, a light focused on his face. Sören was sitting off-screen next to the recording device.

“Hey, what’s up with him?” asked on the guy manning the camera.

“Dunno, he probably have something in his eyes. Whatever, he looks healthy enough. Let’s start the filming, we don’t have all day.”

Relieved they bought his quickly patched-up act, Nagi continued to blink like he had dust in his eyes, trying as hard as he could to make it looks natural. This was his only chance. It was a pretty wild gamble, but he didn’t see anything else he could do. As soon as the camera started rolling and the chief started to give his speech off-screen, his switched his random blinking to a carefully thought one. That was the first time he actually tried to blink in Morse code, but he was confident he could manage it. His only issue was the possibility of being caught during the act… and not knowing if anyone at the palace would actually see it. But he just focused and silently blinked all the information he could think of as useful on a loop until they finished their video. He barely paid attention to the content of that one and just felt strangely exhausted once they were both done. His eyes did hurt a bit now from too much blinking and he wasn’t faking it anymore but couldn’t rub his eyes.

“Sorry kid. I hope you know it’s not personal. Well, not _completely_ , at least, haha!”

The look the chief of the terrorist gave him – and that he failed to read completely – was the last thing he saw before the cloth was back on his head and he was brought back to his cell.

_What… what did they say exactly during the video? Damnit, I didn’t pay enough attention, I was too focused on my message…_

Svend took off the cloth and the handcuffs, and threw him the towel he used earlier again.

“Here. Wipe your eyes, you’re starting to make me feel sorry for you. Also, you can, um, take that off.” he added, gesturing to his mouth.

“Th-thanks…” weakly answered Nagi once the tape was off and his eyes did feel better. The sudden kindness felt really weird, and he was starting to understand the content of the video he just completely missed out on. He risked a question.

“How long do I have?”

“Until the end of the week, kiddo. I’m sorry.”

Nagi felt his heart sink a bit. That wasn’t much. He wasn’t completely sure which day it was and so how many were left, but the timing was really short. He probably had five days at most. Not knowing what to answer, he just sat on the floor without a word. Some tears appeared in the corner of his eyes, but he didn’t care anymore. That might help him to score some more sympathy points with Svend anyway, so it was worth taking.

“Hey, the King might change his mind. You never know. Now, gimme your hands. On the front.”

This time, he hand-cuffed him both wrists from the front before restraining his ankles together the same way.

“There. It’ll be more comfortable.”

Nagi muttered a “thank you” before the door of the room closed and he was left alone.

In the next days, either his father would yield to the terrorists’ request, the police would find him, or he would need to escape on his own somehow. He still felt exhausted, but the adrenaline was kicking in, clearing his mind. He couldn’t afford to bet everything on the message he managed – at least he hoped so – to smuggle in the video earlier. The chances that the team at the palace would catch on it were slim at best, and they would still need to figure out his location from the very scarce information he gave them. It wasn’t something they actually taught him during his lessons, he just improvised with what he had on hands at the moment. Which wasn’t much.

Right now, he at least was finally able to move more freely. After a rapid check, he confirmed the lock-pick he hid in his pocket the first day was still there. Just rushing out was out of the question with the guard still in front of the door, but there was a comforting feeling knowing he was not completely helpless anymore. He would have to jump on the first opportunity, whenever it came.

***

Three days later, Nagi hadn’t made much progress. The only thing he succeeded in doing was flexing up his arms and legs and regaining a bit of control over them. Other than that, his attempts to catch his guard asleep or away only amounted to a lack of sleep. No matter the time of the day, he could hear someone being alert behind the door. There was no way he could actually get the upper hand in a surprise attack, because the guard would react much before the attack would even be in motion.

However, time was running out. He needed to act before it was too late. He had no idea how long he had left, but it probably wasn’t much. This very day, he decided he would try to escape Svend during his daily visit. Readying himself for that, he unlocked both of his handcuffs but tried to make it looks like they were still on.

What he did not expect, was Sören brutally opening the door and barging in without a warning. The chief was much taller and stronger than his usual guards, and Nagi was taken by surprise. Without a word, the old man grasped him by the wrist and violently pulled him on his feet, almost dislocated his shoulder in the process. Under the shock, both handcuffs got loose. The young boy saw the chief’s eyes darkening and his nostrils flaring under the anger, but he didn’t say a word as he half lifted half dragged him out of the room. Desperate to get free, Nagi tried everything he could to regain his arm but it was useless. The hand holding his wrist was like an iron, and the young boy was helpless has the old man dragged him all the way to the first floor, before actually stepping out of the house and making him feel fresh and chill air for the first time in weeks. When his torment finally stopped, Nagi found himself outside, sprawled on the grass, his throat hoarse from the screaming, his shoulder hurting like never before and one of his foot bleeding from the rough treatment on the stairs. He was barefoot since he first tried to escape, and his body did not like what he just went through. He tried to get up but fell back on the ground immediately as he felt his ankle giving way under his weight.

Still silent, Sören pulled his gun and took the safety out.

_So this is it?_

_No, I can still try to duck! Or I can negotiate! I can–_

A single gunshot broke the silence, quickly followed by more rapid fire and some shouting and screaming.

“What the–“ his attention diverted, the old man turned his back on him. Taking the chance, Nagi tried to scramble away as fast as possible, but was stopped by another gunshot, much closer and louder to him than the other ones going in the background.

“Oh no. I don’t think so. You’re either my ticket out of this, or you’re dead.”

“Like you wouldn’t kill me right after getting away, maybe? I won’t let you use me anymore.” the young boy almost spit these words, saying them with a lot more bravado than he was feeling. He wasn’t feeling any. He was just deadly scared right now.

“Fair enough, I guess.”

Taking aim, his smile disappeared. Nagi’s whole body felt frozen. He couldn’t duck that one. Closing his eyes, he waited.

The gunshot was so loud, it made him startle even though he knew it was coming. But to his surprise, he didn’t feel anything. Slowly opening one teary blue eye, then the other one, he saw Sören falling to the ground, a hand clutched to his chest. Right behind, some guards and policemen were running toward him, making big gestures and talking into radios.

“There! The prince is there!”

Saved. He was saved.

Someone immediately crouched to his level and helped him on his feet, while a guard inspected his body for injuries.

“I’m… I’m fine. I think I just sprained my ankle.”

Or something close enough. Suddenly a hand appeared in front of him holding tissue, which he took mechanically. A tissue? What for? Touching his cheeks, he realized he was crying. He didn’t even notice. All he could feel at the moment was relief and exhaustion.

Someone he recognized as the chief of the guards of the palace carried him to a car, before asking him again if he was fine, what happened, and if he wanted anything. Nagi gave him the short version of the story in a calm voice, underlining what he thought could be important as much as possible. Like the presence of a traitor on the palace ground.

“Thank you very much, my Prince. You gave me a lot of important information. I’ll take actions immediately, then we’ll resume talking about it at the palace with the King.”

Nagi nodded quietly. After a few seconds, the man broke the silence and spoke in a very soft voice, way less formally than before.

“My Prince, I am so sorry it took us so long… We got your message, it was very clever. But it took us a lot of time to actually find the house they were keeping you in. I am… I am personally sorry. My men explained me the situation you were in when they found you earlier. This was a close call. We were lucky we found you in time.”

“Yeah… I was lucky.”

The relief suddenly flooded him. He _was_ lucky. Despite the situation, despite of all his mistakes, he made it out alive. He would go home today. He could still hear his teacher. The casualty rate in kidnappings like the one he just went through was usually at 74%. Ransom ones had a low casualty ratio. But the others ones, not so much.

They reached the palace after a 2 hours drive. It was the middle of the day, but Nagi fell asleep in the car. To his surprise, he woke up to a hug from his father. That was definitely not something the King usually did, and it didn’t last very long, but Nagi gratefully accepted it.

Upon arrival, he was filled in the missing details. The terrorist organization asked for the King to go back to a full monarchy, nothing less than that. The request was pretty bold, and almost impossible to grant anyway on such a short notice. Not that the King had any intention to. They initially asked for the release of a famous opponent to the King who was actively working for _another_ famous terrorist organization. This is was as to lead them to investigate in the wrong direction, which worked very well for the first two weeks. Thanks for Nagi’s Morse message, they finally managed to identify the right person: Sören Scheving. A very wealthy merchant that lost a lot of money over the years when Northmare actually opened up to foreign business exchanges. Locating his properties and checking them out took a while, as they were disseminated around the country and islands. Even then, they really were lucky as Nagi could have just been held in a place not related to him in any way.

Just as he was about to be brought back to his room, Nagi decided to raise the subject of the traitor once again. This was highly important and he felt the others were not grasping the danger. To his disbelief, everyone just kept telling him it would be ok.

_How could this be ok?!_

Then his eyes crossed his big brother’s as he was exiting the room, and with a cold shiver, Nagi understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was kinda hard to write, it didn't go to the direction I was planning for and it kept doing things on its own and got much longer than I thought. Thus I feel it's a bit messy and I'm sorry about that xD  
> I have everything planned for the next part (3rd kidnapping) but it'll be harder to write because of the politics heavily involved (as you can see writing political stuff isn't my forte, haha). I'll still do my best because I kinda wrote the whole thing for the sake of that 3rd part to come! (which is where I'll project all my head-canons regarding Nagi's brother based on the hints we got). The time for Nagi to shine the most is coming ☆☆☆ (if I manage to write it)
> 
> If you have feedback, don't hesitate to share it <3 it always makes me super happy!! (even if it's just so I can improve :3)

**Author's Note:**

> I have no ideas how OOC this could be (or could not be) because we actually know too little about Nagi's past. So I decided to just go with it.  
> I'm literally using all the hints we get in rabbit chats and side stories to built that story, but sometimes it's complicated to know how to take them (especially the ones about Nagi's brother, they drive me crazy because they're so cryptic).


End file.
